


(Placeholder for the pretentious ass name I'll eventually come up with)

by galaxyeyedrops



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: M/M, spoilers up to the nasch duel and speculation afterwards
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-23
Updated: 2014-03-23
Packaged: 2018-01-16 16:56:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1354852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxyeyedrops/pseuds/galaxyeyedrops
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On one hand, Vector's alive. On the other hand, Vector's alive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	(Placeholder for the pretentious ass name I'll eventually come up with)

1

It feels like it’s been months when Vector wakes up. There’s a crick in his neck and a sluggishness to his limbs that he never felt before, even in human form. This body, while physically identical to the one he had as Rei, doesn’t have its durability. He can’t run for a few minutes without feeling winded, can’t go a few hours without eating, can’t use any of his Barian powers at all. He’s completely human and not even on par with his former human self, no nice abs or magic at all.

(Kinda lame once you get past the OH GOD THAT ISN’T DON THOUSAND I’M ALIVE thing)

Vector gets past the disappointment quickly enough (mostly because he’s ended up in someone’s yard and really isn’t looking forward to the inevitable call to child services) and contemplates his options. Despite centuries of running back and forth between the Barian and Human worlds, his only remaining base was on an island in the Bermuda Triangle which was almost impossible for him to get to in this state (even if he could, the commute to Heartland would suck). His lack of powers meant there was no easy “brainwash everyone” card out of this.

On the bright side, he was fucking adorable. And Heartland City was nowhere near low on obnoxiously rich lonely old people.

 

2

Yuma finding him was inevitable. Having hair spikier than Cloud Strife didn’t lend itself for inconspicuousness, after all. Vector contemplated greeting Yuma himself right after his resurrection, but for once in his life he didn’t know what to say. Would he drop by, give him a “just kidding” before going on his merry way? Or would he harass Yuma for rest of his mortal life?

Somehow it ended with Vector breaking into Heartland Academy during the lunch break (he had an early curfew) and dropping each one of that Todoroki brat’s test grades by two points. He had contemplated doing the same to Nasch, just to a greater degree, but believe it or not, Nasch’s grades couldn’t actually get any worse. He could be king of two different empires and an admittedly decent duelist, but apparently passing history was too much for him. Vector had bombed most of his classes as Rei Shingetsu to keep up with the disguise (with the exceptions of home ec and art, he aced those) and even he did better.

Vector took out his phone, a Nokia 3310 with a purple faceplate (he heard it was indestructible, and he only picked the best), and began to save the grades in a text message.

It figured that the one moment he looked away from the door, someone would enter.

To Durbe’s credit, he took it very calmly. He slowly pulled out his deck, carefully placed it on a nearby desk, then threw a chair at him.

At least he was decent enough to call the nurse afterwards.

 

3

Going to Heartland Academy’s Nurse’s Office at any moment during the school day practically guaranteed running into one of it’s semi-permanent residents.

With Vector’s luck, he managed to meet them both.

If waking up to your body being crushed in a hug by the kid you tried to kill multiple times (who was being held back by the guy you succeeded in killing) counted as a meeting. It ended with Yuma being pried of Vector ten minutes later, only after he managed to ruin his totally sweet replacement leather jacket. 

On a more positive note, he had one hell of a badass scar.

 

4

It took exactly thirty minutes after Vector made his escape, disappearing into the Heartland midday sky for Yuma's friends to find his house.

His phone was far too sophisticated to run those “app” things but a carefully placed pen near his secret hiding spot and a second phone gave him a more than capable alert system. Within seconds of their search, Vector had a new text message. Coded so only he would understand.

 

ASSHLS LKIN UNDR MTRSS. KL FUKR.

 

Now, he didn’t have anything too terrible hidden. Or nothing that they wouldn’t expect. A taser gun, a hard copy of his stock market portfolio (you’d be surprised how much control one could exert by simply having access to a few key researchers and executives’ addresses), and his deck.

Vector didn’t know exactly how, but his deck survived where his powers didn’t. Not only did it survive, it survived intact, still containing all of his Rank Up cards and Over Hundred Number. While Vector wasn’t normally the sentimental type (using and discarding things had become second nature at this point), these cards were important.

They were his. And he’d get them back even if he had to set the whole neighborhood on fire to do so.

(Incidentally, setting the neighborhood on fire was his backup plan.)

 

5

Now, if Vector had one good quality, it would be his patience. (Vector would disagree cause he clearly only had good qualities.) He knew how a few hours could turn a disadvantageous situation into an advantageous one. Especially when the other side had school, jobs, or robot wings.

So, it was after a month and a half that Vector broke into the Kamishiro Mansion, with a pair of Ray Bans perched on his nose and a large tote bag on one arm.

Not even stopping to take off his flip flops, Vector walked straight into the living room. He strode over to the game board they were crowded around, collected two hundred in fake money, and proceeded to shake all the leftover sand in the community chest.

They stared.

Vector smiled.

"It’s with Yuma." Merag said.

Vector rewarded her by chucking the hula girl figurine at Mizael’s head instead of her’s, carefully knocking down all of Nasch’s apartments on Pall Mall on his way out.

 

6

Yuma, to his credit, was already waiting for him. He had a gentle look on his face (that was practically nauseating) and Vector’s deck held in his hands.

He strode over to Vector, his locket bobbing where the Emperor’s Key had once been, and held out the deck, only smiling when his guest snatched it right away to look through it.

Only when Vector had double- no, triple checked his deck did Yuma address him.

"Shingetsu, let’s duel."

 

7

Vector straightens his tie and walks through the open door. Swaggering down to the front of the room, he addresses the class (and bewildered teacher).

"My name is Rei Shingetsu," he says, writing the symbols on the board.

"And I’ve just returned to your school."

 

8

Nasch’s eyes follow him everywhere. They don’t attack him with accusative glares but rather a solemn resignation. “I know you’re going to betray him again,” they say. “You’re Vector. That’s what you do.”

Vector pretends not to notice (he’s been always good at pretending) because he knows that they’re absolutely right.

There are moments in the swimming pool where he’s hit by the overwhelming urge to grab Yuma by the neck and just hold him; moments in home economics where he considers letting the knife slip just a little bit, only to be assaulted with memories of Yuma swearing to never leave him alone.

 

9

 

"In that battle, against Shark, I heard your voice."

"Despite everything, it was nice to see you two working together."

"You see, before he disappeared, my dad taught me all about stars and stuff. I’m not saying I know as much as Kaito, but I’m not too bad."

"You guys are like stars in a constellation. Not just you guys. All of us. We’re all separate people but we’re connected too, you know?"

"If you’re awake, I want you to know. I still mean everything I said that that day. We’re always going to be connected."

 

10

 

Yukatas were something that didn’t take Vector long to get used to. He reveled in the feeling of the loose light cloth, a direct contrast to the person next to him, who spent at least an hour adjusting his obi before leaving home.

Yuma had dragged Vector with him to all of his summer activities, from smashing watermelons at the beach (an activity Vector took to right away) to cicada catching (where Vector had problems understanding that Alit’s red shirt was not a net substitute), so inviting him out to a festival was only natural.

Yuma rushes from one stall to another, his face stuffed with food and a ridiculous amount of pinwheels stuck in his hair. Vector considers walking out on him when Yuma drops two paper lanterns into his arms, screaming something about being the first to the river, kattobingu and all.

"These", he points at the lanterns he handed Vector when he catches up to him "are for your parents. It’s supposed to guide them back peacefully," he says as he lays one out for Astral. "It really works! Trust me!"

Vector's breath hitches at Yuma’s words and stops. There are plenty of things he wants to say, insults he wants to hide behind, but the words refuse to form in his mind, much less on his tongue.

He exhales, then nods.

"Fine, I’ll trust you."

Yuma smiles, all bright eyes and dazzling teeth, and slips his hand into Vector's own.

**Author's Note:**

> Posting all my negativeshipping/foilshipping fic here before the finale. Which is like only 3. Anywho, meant to edit a bit more, clarify a bit more about the missing deck, but I'll get to it?
> 
> Probably?


End file.
